Configuring an IPv6 Router

The first step in configuring IPv6 on a network is configuring IPv6 on a router. Router configuration involves a number of discrete tasks, which are described in this section. You might perform some or all of the tasks, depending on your site requirements.

IPv6 Router Configuration (Task Map)

Perform the next tasks in the order that is shown in the table.

Task	Description	For Instructions
1. Ensure that you have completed the required prerequisites before you begin IPv6 configuration.	You must complete planning tasks and Solaris installation with IPv6 enabled interfaces before you configure an IPv6-enabled router.	Chapter 4, Planning an IPv6 Network (Tasks) and Configuring an IPv6 Interface.
2. Configure a router.	Define the site prefix for the network.	How to Configure an IPv6-Enabled Router
3. Configure tunnel interfaces on the router.	Set up a manual tunnel or a 6to4 tunnel interface on the router. The local IPv6 network needs tunnels to communicate with other, isolated IPv6 networks.	How to Configure a 6to4 Tunnel How to Manually Configure IPv6 Over IPv4 Tunnels How to Manually Configure IPv6 Over IPv6 Tunnels How to Configure IPv4 Over IPv6 Tunnels
4. Configure the switches on the network.	If your network configuration includes switches, configure them for IPv6 at this point in the configuration process.	Refer to switch manufacturer's documentation.
5. Configure any hubs on your network.	If your network configuration includes hubs, configure them for IPv6 at this point in the configuration process.	Refer to hub manufacturer's documentation.
6. Configure the network name service for IPv6.	Configure your primary name service (DNS, NIS, or LDAP) to recognize IPv6 addresses after the router is configured for IPv6.	How to Add IPv6 Addresses to DNS and How to Display IPv6 Information Through NIS
7. (Optional) Modify the addresses for the IPv6-enabled interfaces on hosts and servers.	After IPv6 router configuration, make further modifications on IPv6-enabled hosts and servers.	Modifying an IPv6 Interface Configuration for Hosts and Servers
Configure applications to support IPv6	Different applications might require different actions in order to support IPv6.	Refer to applications' documentation

How to Configure an IPv6-Enabled Router

This procedure assumes that all interfaces of the router were configured for IPv6 during Solaris installation.

1. On the system that will become the IPv6 router, assume the Primary Administrator role or become superuser.

   The Primary Administrator role includes the Primary Administrator profile. To create the role and assign the role to a user, see Chapter 2, Working With the Solaris Management Console (Tasks), in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.

2. Review which interfaces on the router were configured for IPv6 during installation.

   # ifconfig -a

   Check the output to ensure that the interfaces that you wanted to configure for IPv6 are now plumbed with link-local addresses. The following sample command output of ifconfig -a shows the IPv4 and IPv6 addresses that were configured for the router's interfaces.

   o0: flags=1000849 <UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 8232 index 1
           inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000 
   dmfe0: flags=1000843 <UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 1500 index 2
           inet 172.16.26.232 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 172.16.26.255
           ether 0:3:ba:11:b1:15 
   dmfe1: flags=1000843 <UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4 mtu 1500 index 3
           inet 172.16.26.220 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 172.16.26.255
           ether 0:3:ba:11:b1:16 
   lo0: flags=2000849 <UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv6> mtu 8252 index 1
           inet6 ::1/128 
   dmfe0: flags=2000841 <UP,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv6> mtu 1500 index 2
           ether 0:3:ba:11:b1:15 
           inet6 fe80::203:baff:fe11:b115/10 
   dmfe1: flags=2000841 <UP,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv6> mtu 1500 index 3
           ether 0:3:ba:11:b1:16 
           inet6 fe80::203:baff:fe11:b116/10 
   
            

   The output also shows that the primary network interface dmfe0 and the additional interface dmfe1 were configured during installation with the IPv6 link–local addresses fe80::203:baff:fe11:b115/10 and fe80::203:baff:fe11:b116/10.

3. Configure IPv6 packet forwarding on all interfaces of the router.

   Use either of the following to enable packet forwarding:

   • Use the routeadm command, as follows:

     # routeadm -e ipv6-forwarding -u

   • Use the following Service Management Facility (SMF) command, as follows:.

     # svcadm enable ipv6-forwarding

4. Start the routing daemon.

   The in.ripngd daemon handles IPv6 routing.

   Turn on IPv6 routing in either of the following ways:

   • Use the routeadm command as follows:

     # routeadm -e ipv6-routing -u

   • Use SMF to enable IPv6 routing:

     # svcadm enable ripng:default 

   For syntax information on the routeadm command, see the routeadm(1M) man page.

5. Create the /etc/inet/ndpd.conf file.

   You specify the site prefix to be advertised by the router and other configuration information in /etc/inet/ndpd.conf. This file is read by the in.ndpd daemon, which implements the IPv6 Neighbor Discovery protocol.

   For a list of variables and allowable values, refer to ndpd.conf Configuration File and the ndpd.conf(4)man page.

6. Type the following text into the /etc/inet/ndpd.conf file:

   ifdefault AdvSendAdvertisements true prefixdefault AdvOnLinkFlag on AdvAutonomousFlag on

   This text tells the in.ndpd daemon to send out router advertisements over all interfaces of the router that are configured for IPv6.

7. Add additional text to the /etc/inet/ndpd.conf file to configure the site prefix on the various interfaces of the router.

   The text should have the following format:

   prefix global-routing-prefix:subnet ID/64 interface

   The following sample /etc/inet/ndpd.conf file configures the router to advertise the site prefix 2001:0db8:3c4d::/48 over the interfaces dmfe0 and dmfe1.

   ifdefault AdvSendAdvertisements true
   prefixdefault AdvOnLinkFlag on AdvAutonomousFlag on
   
   if dmfe0 AdvSendAdvertisements 1 prefix 2001:0db8:3c4d:15::0/64 dmfe0 if dmfe1 AdvSendAdvertisements 1 prefix 2001:0db8:3c4d:16::0/64 dmfe1

8. Reboot the system.

   The IPv6 router begins advertising on the local link any site prefix that is in the ndpd.conf file.

Example 7-3 ifconfig Output Showing IPv6 Interfaces

The following example shows output from the ifconfig -a command such as you would receive after you finish the Configuring an IPv6 Router procedure.

lo0: flags=1000849 <UP LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 8232 index 1
        inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000 
dmfe0: flags=1000843 <UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 1500 index 2
        inet 172.16.15.232 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 172.16.26.255
        ether 0:3:ba:11:b1:15 
dmfe1: flags=1000843 <UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4 mtu 1500 index 3
        inet 172.16.16.220 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 172.16.26.255
        ether 0:3:ba:11:b1:16 
lo0: flags=2000849 <UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv6> mtu 8252 index 1
        inet6 ::1/128 
dmfe0: flags=2100841 <UP,RUNNING,MULTICAST,ROUTER,IPv6> mtu 1500 index 2
        ether 0:3:ba:11:b1:15 
        inet6 fe80::203:baff:fe11:b115/10 
dmfe0:1: flags=2180841 <UP,RUNNING,MULTICAST,ADDRCONF,ROUTER,IPv6> mtu 1500
          index 2
        inet6 2001:db8:3c4d:15:203:baff:fe11:b115/64
dmfe1: flags=2100841 <UP,RUNNING,MULTICAST,ROUTER,IPv6> mtu 1500 index 3
        ether 0:3:ba:11:b1:16 
        inet6 fe80::203:baff:fe11:b116/10 
dmfe1:1: flags=2180841 <UP,RUNNING,MULTICAST,ADDRCONF,ROUTER,IPv6> mtu 1500
           index 3
        inet6 2001:db8:3c4d:16:203:baff:fe11:b116/64

In this example, each interface that was configured for IPv6 now has two addresses. The entry with the name of the interface, such as dmfe0, shows the link-local address for that interface. The entry with the form interface:n, such as dmfe0:1, shows a global IPv6 address. This address includes the site prefix that you configured in the /etc/ndpd.conf file, in addition to the interface ID.

See Also

• To configure any tunnels from the routers that you have identified in your IPv6 network topology, refer to Configuring Tunnels for IPv6 Support.

• For information about configuring switches and hubs on your network, refer to the manufacturer's documentation.

• To configure IPv6 hosts, refer to Modifying an IPv6 Interface Configuration for Hosts and Servers.

• To improve IPv6 support on servers, refer to Administering IPv6-Enabled Interfaces on Servers.

• For detailed information about IPv6 commands, files, and daemons, refer to Solaris 10 IPv6 Implementation.